Vanderbilt Baseball, Tim Corbin Land NCAA Home Run Leader – Sports Illustrated

NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt baseball has landed the NCAA home runs leader. 
Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Hunter Ray has committed to Vanderbilt out of the transfer portal after a season in which he hit 32 homers and 11 doubles while hitting .345 and stealing 24 bases. Ray struck out 21% of the time, but has a power tool that Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin clearly took note of. 
Ray was the NEC Player of The Year in 2026, set the FDU and NEC single-season home runs record, set the FDU record for RBI in a season, set the FDU single-season total bases record and was the first player in college baseball to hit the 20 homer, 20 double mark in 2026. 
Vanderbilt has now landed four players from the transfer portal, all of which will help to bolster its offense. Corbin and company have also landed commitments from Missouri transfer Blaize Ward, Maryland transfer Bud Coombs and Wofford transfer Niko Brini.
Vanderbilt baseball looks to recover from a 2026 season in which it missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 19 seasons and the first time since early in Corbin's tenure. It was the longest streak in college baseball and its abrupt end has caused Corbin to conduct an internal audit of the program following the season.
“I don't look at it and go ‘oh, my gosh.’ I just look at it and say ‘I'm going to figure this sh** out, some way, somehow,’” Corbin said. “I love where college baseball is. I love where this conference is. I just look at it as ‘okay, we've got some good players coming back, but we need to better ourselves.’”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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